From multivitamins to the acai berry; the health food and supplement industry is worth millions -and for good reason. The average diet of the 21st Century is high in fat, salt and sugar; yet low in the vital vitamins and minerals our bodies need.
The sad thing is that most of us shouldn’t actually need to take supplements. A balanced diet should be able to provide us with everything we require. The reality is however, that few of us eat enough of the right things and consequently, most of us are deficient in one or more nutrients.
While it is plainly evident that the ideal thing to do is to eat a better diet; this is easier said than done. Busy lives and stringent budgets mean that many of us have to rely on supplements in order to ensure our bodies are getting all the nutrients they need.
Sadly health foods and supplements can be very expensive and aren’t always what they seem. Here are some great tips to help you make your choices.
Read reviews
The best advice I can give is to take the advice of other consumers. From acai berry reviews to commentary on the latest vitamin enriched shake; it’s those who have used the products before that are best placed to tell you about them.
Observe the products ingredients
It’s often truth that all the health and supplement industry really care about is our money. This doesn’t mean that everything they sell is a sham, but that some companies in the industry will sell us an inferior product if they feel they can get away with it.
The acai berry for instance, is available in many different forms. Some of them contain 100% of the berry itself, while some contain very little of the fruit and are instead padded out with fillers such as sugar.
Read the ingredients of the products carefully and again, refer back to those acai berry reviews. This will help ensure that you’re getting a good deal as opposed to paying good money for what is essentially nothing more than glorified sugar.
Only buy what you need
Depending on the diet we eat and any medical conditions we may suffer with, taking particular supplements may be a waste of money at best and at worst, harmful to our health.
For instance, it’s recommended that pregnant women take a daily folic acid supplement up until their 12th week of pregnancy while vitamin A supplements should be avoided altogether.
Carefully research which supplements will benefit you the most and which should be avoided; if possible, ask your doctor to perform a test to determine nutrient deficiencies.
Watch out for sales
Once you’ve found a good product, keep an eye out for sites or shops that have it on sale. Then, if it’s not perishable, use this opportunity to stock up.
The acai berry for instance, perishes quickly upon picking. However, most acai berry supplements contain freeze dried berries which should last for many months, if not years.
Vitamin supplements should also last for years if kept unopened but note that they will begin perishing once the packaging is opened.
This post was written by James Harper on behalf of Which Acai Berry, the online resource for independent Acai Berry Reviews and the latest Acai Berry news. James writes on subjects relating to health, fitness and wellbeing.